Frank Polizzi leans forward over the clay on his wheel, and with a few gentle upward pulls, he shapes a pot’s neck. He speaks to a gathering crowd as he works, one clay-speckled blue-jean leg rhythmi- cally kicking the wheel, glasses perched at the very tip of his nose.

“Every pot is actually an abstract sculpture of the human body,” he says to his rapt audience at Mulberry Pottery in Mineral Point, Wisconsin (50 miles southwest of Madison). As he talks, a tall vase rises from the wheel, like a slim dancer stretching on a stage, one more piece of art among thousands on display during the Fall Art Tour.

For three days each October, 50 artists around Mineral Point, Dodgeville, Baraboo and Spring Green open their studios and homes to the public. The self-guided tour spans 60 miles of south- west Wisconsin’s dairy country, with signs pointing to painters, sculptors, photographers, weavers, jewelers, glass artists, potters and woodworkers. Visit- ing artists on their private turf is an inti- mate treat. You’ll see watering cans hanging like an oversize mobile above goldsmith Frank Kudla’s patio, and at Longbranch Gallery, you’ll peek into the cozy nest where Judith Sutcliffe paints tiles by a pellet stove. At many stops, you’ll spend as much time chatting as browsing. And you’ll eat lots of cookies.

Rather than rush, savor the tour by staying at an inn or bed-and-breakfast in the historic mining town of Mineral Point, where restaurants feature local cheese and produce. Fall foliage dapples the rolling hills like thick daubs of paint on a grassy canvas, a fitting backdrop for a weekend of Wisconsin-born art.

Art Tour Trip Guide

The free Fall Art Tour runs in mid-October. Check the website for dates, hours, maps, detailed info about the artists, and ideas for restaurants and lodgings. (608) 987-3787; fallarttour.com

See

The town-to-town route measures 60 miles, but you’ll zigzag a lot between rural stops. You’ll enjoy the tour more if you meander and accept that you won’t see everyone. That said, here are a few stops to watch for.